Foreign languages court interpreters under focus
ROGUE foreign language court interpreters allegedly act as advisers and lawyers of their compatriots accused of committing crimes in South Africa because there is no way of quality control assuring their work.
This is the shocking allegation by the organisation representing court interpreters across the country.
The South African Language Practitioners Association (Salpa) has complained that its requests to meet justice department director-general Nonkululeko Sindane to discuss the problems plaguing their craft have fallen on deaf ears.
Salpa president Thami Konkie said the conviction rate among foreign nationals was very low because it is nearly impossible to quality assure the work of foreign language interpreters.
He added that many regions across the country had no foreign language interpreters and relied on those based in Johannesburg.
“We only get them from Joburg and pay them between R11 000 and R12 000.”
Salpa’s complaints are echoed by a February 2013 report, prepared by top justice department officials Michael Ndlokovane and Tsietsi Malema on concerns raised by interpreters.
The report’s authors admitted a significant gap existed in the quality assurance of indigenous languages and “more specifically within the realm of foreign languages ”.
Ndlokovane and Malema recommended foreign language interpreters should undergo language competency assessments by registered and accredited institutions.
However, Konkie said the implementation of the recommendations is happening at a snail’s pace.
“We requested meetings with the D-G, but our requests have fallen on deaf ears.”
Ndlokovane and Malema’s 21-page report followed several claims there was a language crisis in the country’s courts after a murder accused was allowed to walk free at the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg in 2012 because there was no one to interpret his confession statement, written in English, into his home language.
According to the report, seen by Sowetan, Sindane then summoned the department’s top officials and demanded to be briefed in January 2013.
The report recorded that there were 45 foreign languages and dialects, and 285 interpreters at the time, with the most prominent being Urdu, Arabic, Mandarin, Somali, Shona, Swahili, French, Ibo and Portuguese.
“There is an urgent need to address the shortcomings posed by these languages,” read the report.